Wednesday 17 June 2026

Every year (and this year in particular), I’ve had the privilege of witnessing many in our community step into new leadership roles. Each of them bring a unique story, a deep sense of vocation, and a willingness to serve others. Whenever I watch a person in the Lutheran learning community stepping into a new leadership role, I’m reminded that leadership is something that each of us grows into as we listen, discern, and step forward to respond to God’s call.

Stepping into leadership today is not simple. We are navigating a world that moves faster than our hearts and minds were designed to process. There can be so much noise. The challenges we face – in education, in business, and in our local communities – are not entirely new, yet the scale and speed of them can feel overwhelming. We are more connected than ever, yet many of us feel less connected in the ways that matter.

And yet, despite all this, I keep returning to the same truth: hope sometimes feels like the hardest thing to carry – but it is the most essential thing to hold onto.

Hope is not naïve optimism, or a refusal to acknowledge difficulties. Hope is a force that shapes behaviour and nourishes relationships. Hope opens pathways that fear keeps closed, and moves us forward.

The Apostle Paul writes,

“For in hope we were saved… If we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”
Romans 8:24–25

In Paul’s view, hope is not just a feeling ahead of the future; it is also how we inhabit our present.

As leaders, part of our work is to take in everything in frame – and then zoom out. To see not only the noise and the fractures pulling focus, but also the good work unfolding at the edges of our aperture. The people who care. The small, steady steps paving a way forward. The humble dedicated efforts that often go unnoticed. It’s this collaborative, community spirit which helps us adjust the zoom.

Martin Luther once wrote that:

“Hope changes the one who hopes into what is hoped for”.

What I think Luther meant is that hope activates. Systems may feel stuck, but they are rarely static; there is always movement somewhere. And hope stretches us. Into the unknown and the hidden, pulling us forward into possibility.

This is the kind of hope I see emerging across our LEQ learning communities. A hope that is honest about the challenges, yet unwilling to be defined by them. A hope that celebrates new leaders stepping forward with courage. A hope that is grateful for the blessing of fresh eyes and fresh perspectives.

Leading with enduring hope has been a significant part of the leadership roles I’ve held. In moments of uncertainty or in times of weariness, I have felt the responsibility of embodying hope so that others may draw from it. In those times, I have drawn hope from knowing God is always at work through us, oftentimes in ways we cannot yet perceive.

Whenever we welcome a new service leader or principal into their role, my prayer is such that they carry with them this kind of hope. A hope that is enduring, and open to the good that God is already bringing to life among us.

May we keep noticing where hope is stirring. May we keep naming where we feel stuck. And may we keep stepping forward – together – to do the work God has entrusted to us.

 

Tanya Crooks
Executive Director
Lutheran Education Queensland